Two of the comments to last week's words caught my eye. blackjack11155 refers to the black man who felt eyes on him when the word "niggardly" was used - I've occasionally felt it was exactly the word I wanted to use, and I was alert to whether anyone in the room was black, no doubt looked for such person - for the very reason that I did not want anyone to be offended. Thus the fear of offending leads us to offend! The other comment was to the effect that "appearances are reality," which I must reject, for that way madness lies. If the measure of offense is taken not from what was said or intended but from what another perceives it to be, then it will be found whenever one sees advantage to being a victim. Surely AWAD is about treasuring words for what they mean, so that one is NOT offended by "niggardly," because one knows what it does and does not mean.

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